A $2 million verdict has been returned to the estate of a 20-year-old who died after a surgical procedure.

Megan Clay passed away at the age of 20 just days after having her tonsils removed at Salem Regional Hospital.

According to the release, Clay experienced significant bleeding about 36 hours after the procedure. She was taken to Mercy Health in Boardman where it was determined she had experienced significant bleeding, low blood pressure and was in shock.

The medical staff was able to get the bleeding to stop and Dr. Richard Pearlstein determined that surgery was needed.

Clay was taken into the operating room around 11:30 p.m. and anesthesia was administered. To repair the bleeding, the patient needed to be intubated.

According to the release, multiple intubation attempts failed due to the presence of clots and swelling from the tonsil surgery. Clay started bleeding again during an attempt and she went into cardiac arrest while the surgeon tried to secure an airway with a tracheotomy.

Clay was pronounced dead around 12:15 a.m. and the forensic pathologist determined she died of blood loss.

According to the release, the forensic pathologist who performed the autopsy was presented with medical records that were not available at the time of the autopsy. After reviewing the new information, he changed his opinion on the cause of death and testified that lack of oxygen was a cause of cardiac arrest.

Clay's estate argued the surgeon had four to six minutes to establish and airway and failure to do so constituted medical negligence.

The release says Dr. Pearlstein denied any negligence and said he met the standard of care for a surgeon under similar circumstances and maintained that the cardiac arrest was a result of blood loss beyond his control.

The jury in the case had to determine if Dr. Pearlstein obtained an airway in an appropriate amount of time. Deliberations began Friday and they determined Dr. Pearlstein constituted medical negligence and the negligence was a cause of Clay's death.